A short synopsis of the film:
In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars and community leaders decided to fight back. Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. Now, for the first time, their story is told as a feature documentary. Written, produced and directed by Roberta Grossman and executive produced by Nancy Spielberg, Who Will Write Our History mixes the writings of the Oyneg Shabes archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and stunning dramatizations to transport us inside the Ghetto and the lives of these courageous resistance fighters. They defied their murderous enemy with the ultimate weapon – the truth – and risked everything so that their archive would survive the war, even if they did not.

Amos N. Guiora, Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law

In The Crime of Complicity: The Bystander in the Holocaust, Professor Amos Guiora discusses the bystander-victim relationship from a deeply personal and legal perspective, focusing first on the Holocaust and then exploring cases in contemporary society. He shares the experiences of his parents and grandparents during the Holocaust and draws on a wide range of historical material and interviews.

Questions of bystander complicity are, unfortunately, highly relevant today, from cases of sexual assault on college campuses to Harvey Weinstein to the former USA Gymnastics doctor and much more in the U.S. and around the world. He concludes that a society cannot rely on morals and compassion alone in determining our obligation to help another in danger. It is ultimately a legal issue and we must make the obligation to intervene the law, and thus non-intervention a crime.

Professor Guiora is a significant contributor of “Bystander—Duty to Act” legislation in Utah and is engaging with legislators and Attorney Generals across the country on the topic.

Amos N. Guiora is Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the University of Utah and a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Israel Defense Forces. He is actively involved in bystander legislation efforts in Utah and other states around the country.

Professor Guiora has an A.B. in history from Kenyon College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a Ph.D from Leiden University. He has published extensively both in the United States and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism, the limits of power, multiculturalism and human rights. Prior to his book The Crime of Complicity: The Bystander in the Holocaust (2017), his books include Freedom from Religion: Rights and National Security (2009) and Tolerating Intolerance: The Price of Protecting Extremism (2014). His latest book is Earl Warren, Ernesto Miranda and Terrorism (2018).

For more about Professor Guiora and The Crime of Complicity, including
news and reviews, visit crimeofcomplicity.com.